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April 29, 2008

Neil Diamond is In the American Idol House! But Why?

By: The Dude on the Right
I love Neil Diamond.  I've seen him in 1996, 1998, 2001, and 2005. I've taken some nice photos of the man, I've done some cartoon drawings of the man (scroll down for it), and I have even taken my Mom to his concert back in 2001 which would have been a better experience for her (but maybe not so much of a story), had I splurged on a limo.  He is a singer, he is a songwriter, but hopefully for our last five folks in this contest it will be his performing skills that he can impress on them.  We'll have to see how that goes as the show goes on, so let's just get to it, and here's how I thought the five folks did...

ROUND 1
Jason Castro
 - Sings - "Forever in Blue Jeans"
 - Good choice for him.  It's bouncy, light-hearted, and works with him playing guitar, but he still isn't being much of a performer. 

David Cook
 - Sings "I'm Alive"
 - Good, pick obscure Neil Diamond songs people don't know by a performer who most people know all of his hits.  David did good with the "I'm Alive" song, but most people probably don't want to hear Neil Diamond songs they don't know.  Quit trying to be so "original."

Brook White
 - Sings - "I'm a Believer"
 - "I'm a Believer" is just so wrong for a song for her to sing.  She couldn't hit the low notes, it might have been in the wrong key, and these people playing their own instruments limit themselves because they are stuck behind the mike and can't actually work the crowd.  So far the performing side of anything isn't coming out.

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "Sweet Caroline"
 - So David tried to bust out of his melodic groove with maybe the biggest karaoke song in existence, and he didn't even fill in the "So Good, So Good, So Good" part.  He almost wanted to work the crowd for this song, but then hunkered back to just singing, almost seeming to hope he wouldn't forget the words.

Syesha Mercado
 - Sings - "Hello Again"
 - It's nice enough, but just seems to be lacking some kind of punch that Neil puts into it even though it's a ballad.

On a side note, Paula Abdul has finally hit an all-time high for being clueless.

ROUND 2
Jason Castro
 - Sings - "September Morn"
 - Yea, we get the performer you want to be - the laid-back, hippie dude.  We get it, the dudettes probably like your laid-back attitude, and you picked good songs this week even though I found you lame.  You're lucky the chicks probably dig you.

David Cook
 - Sings "All I Need is You"
 - Yup, another obscure Neil Diamond song, what the hell are you thinking?  Sure, you might be trying to separate yourself and be original, but in a week you had two songs to pick maybe you should choose an obscure one for the first song (good choice though), and then bring reality back with a Neil Diamond classic so everyone could remember that.  You're probably lucky that you are a pretty-boy, rocker-dude, because that is the only thing you bring.

Brook White
 - Sings - "I Am, I Said"
 - You know what, I hate the fact that the band actually joined in because for her, doing this solo, on the piano, was really working for me.  The back-up band ruined it, because as a solo song this was actually a song I liked.  I still hate that she won't shut up when the judges give her their critiques, and I only wish I could see her do this song in a smoky bar, all alone on a piano, just being herself.

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "America"
 - I know you are young, but who in the hell is coaching you on the songs for you to sing?  Of all of the Neil Diamond songs this is probably the worst choice in my head for you.  I guess it sounded better for his live performance because on my TV I didn't like it at all.  Am I hearing something different?

Syesha Mercado
 - Sings - "Thank the Lord for the Night Time"
 - She's at least coming out of her shell and trying to also be a performer, but I think it might be a little too late because, as I'm listening to her, Syesha could have probably turned "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show" into a fabulous number, but the problem is the American Idol folks forced these people to do two songs in an hour.

Let's wrap this up...
As much as I love Neil Diamond I still have absolutely no idea why he was involved in this show.  The crappy part is that our contestants didn't need to try and fit two songs each into an hour, they really needed just one song each to fill in this hour - and perform the hell out of that song.  I hate to say this but the "American Idol" folks haven't seemed to realize why we love this show, and it's not for seeing people sing a verse and then a chorus and then being judged by Randy, Paula, and Simon, clipped because of time constraints.  Our time is precious, don't let us feel cheated.

I've pretty much given up on "Dancing with The Stars," and now I'm almost not caring about "American Idol."  Idol Producers, at least let these people try to sing.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:24 PM | Comments (0)

April 28, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Miley Cyrus and Mindy McCready being 15 Years Old, Roger Waters has a Pig, and Happy Birthday Theta Xi!

The Dude on the Right doesn't really relate how joining Theta Xi in college actually led to this podcast, during, well, this podcast, but he does so in his summary, and part of it was that something in 1864 led him to meeting The Dude on the Left in 1985, which eventually led him to having this podcast. Wow, how is that for confusing? The Dude on the Right at least keeps things simple for most of the rest of it, talking about 15 year old confusion, at least for maybe Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana), and Mindy McCready who was 15 many years ago, but a story about the death of Cheri Oteri's father also fascinated him, especially since it seemed both sad yet bizarre.  He still wonders why Roger Waters' letting an inflatable pig fly free during Coechella is news, especially since Roger has been doing this since at least sometime in 2006, but maybe The Dude on the Right will be back to normal after seeing "Iron Man" this weekend, hopefully, the day before his birthday.

The Dude on the Right is fascinated by some of the strangest things sometimes.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:48 PM | Comments (0)

April 27, 2008

I Should Have Just Stayed in Bed.

By: The Dude on the Right
With my weekend movie reviewing completed a day early after seeing "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay" on Friday and "Baby Mama" yesterday, I was looking forward to a day to get things some things done around The Dude-Pad, and as Sunday's are my laundry day, what a great way to start!  That sounds simple enough only that for the first time in I can't even remember, I was in my bathroom, dressed, yet felt naked.  And then it occurred to me and I yelled, "Crap," only I didn't yell "Crap," I yelled the word even my Mom would be washing my mouth out with soap had she heard me say it.  And the word came out knowing that yesterday's jeans were the first article of clothing in the washer, therefore as the washing machine was still filling up, my wallet was toast, being soaked in a combination of warm water, floating dirt, and laundry detergent.  So I'm digging through my washing machine, looking for the jeans at the bottom, and sure enough, there it was, my wallet, soaked, and then the fun part came, actually reminding myself of all of the things in my wallet.  The simple things were there - driver's license, credit and bank cards, health insurance card, an expired Extended Warranty card for my car, and some grocery store cards.  Then I remembered some of the other stuff I knew might disintegrate, namely an old card to the lady who used to cute my hair, old pictures of my niece and nephew, and some receipts I didn't yank out of my wallet for expense purposes.  Luckily, happily, the disintegration didn't occur, most everything was saved, and the pictures of my niece when she was in Kindergarten and my nephew in 4th grade survived (sure, these pictures are from 1996, but they are both so much cuter back then)!  The only thing washing my wallet did do was remind me that I need a new wallet, as it has been slowly falling apart over the last six months, but damn, I love that wallet!

And sure, a wallet in the laundry isn't a catastrophic moment for the day, I just thank God it wasn't my iPhone, so I continued my day.  Sunday newspaper - Check!  Breakfast - Check!  A quick TiVo through "Ebert & Roeper At the Movies" to see how they, or at least Richard Roeper, felt about the movies I saw this week - Check!  Let's keep working on the newspaper while watching "Battlestar Galactica" - No check.  It turns out my cable system didn't seem to want me watching the show even though my TiVo actually changed channels this time, leaving me with a "Searching for signal message," or something like that, for an hour on my TiVo.  Uggh!  Now I have to call Comcast this week, and that is always such a joy.

Breakfast done, Sunday paper done, laundry started, all that was left for my day was cleaning the first floor of The Dude-Pad.  The breakfast nook/storage area for my fish-tank cleaning and maintenance stuff went fine, I found a spot for an old radio in my kitchen which would work nicely when I cook my extravagant meals, and I was looking forward to rearranging some photos around my living room area, doing some much needed dusting, and it occurred to me that I had an old photo I wanted to hang up but needed a frame that I knew I could pick up when I went to either A) The hardware store where I needed to pick up a new set of blinds for my living room window, or 2) Even at the grocery store while getting sustenance supplies for the week.

I measure the blinds I would need, 51 inches wide, I have my grocery list, I head out in the Dude-Mobile to the Home Depot, buy blinds that are 51 inches wide, and they even have three-packs of air filters for my furnace!  Bonus!!  I get to the grocery store, my shopping is complete, and then I get home.  I look down and there is the picture I needed a frame for that I didn't buy.  Alright, let's move on.  I bought liquid soap for my kitchen and bathroom dispensers, only to find the bathroom one seems to have issues, necessitating an improvising for some fixing, therefore slowing down my cleaning schedule, and before I cleaned my living room I figured hanging the new blinds would be the first step.  I'm up on a stool, the old blinds are down, the new blinds are up, and then I realized I couldn't walk around naked in my living room (not like I ever do, but I like knowing I have the option), because although the blinds I bought were wide enough, sadly I didn't pay attention to the length.  Uggghhhhh!  I was finally spent, too many things wrong, let's just watch cars driving left so I watched the end of the NASCAR race to clear my mind and said to myself, "Self, the living room cleaning will wait until another day.  I've had it."

So, resting on my couch, watching cars go round and round and then crashing, I didn't think my day could get any more into "I should have just stayed in bed" mode until my bed sheets came out of the dryer, and as I went to put one of my pillows back into a pillow case, the pillow case tore in places I can't even figure out how to mend.  Uggggghhhhh, again.

So, my Sunday, which was supposed to be all about me, turned into, still, all about me, but not like I pictured.  I washed my wallet, my cable company doesn't want me watching "Battlestar Galactica," I can't walk around in my living room naked, and I was reminded I need a new wallet and bed linens.  It is, as a day progresses like this, that I sort of wish I had a girlfriend, like Jewel, who would just utter the simple line, "Come on darlin', let's go back to bed."

I will say, that today, I did at least mount the bust of a moose, or maybe a reindeer, on my wall, but tomorrow will be Monday, and oh, that looks so promising, and I mean that in a totally sarcastic way.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:11 PM | Comments (0)

April 26, 2008

What's New? A Movie Review of "Baby Mama."

The Dude on the Right went to see and reviewed "Baby Mama," because, well, that is his job, and he really liked the concept of the movie. Sadly he didn't like the "twist" the movie folks felt was needed for the movie because he was already camped in with the story the movie trailer was showing. Luckily for his star rating The Dudette Scale overshadowed his.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:24 PM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2008

What's New? A Movie Review of "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay."

The Dude on the Right simply has this advice during his review of "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay," and that is if you were a fan of the "White Castle" version you will probably enjoy our two stoners next adventure. However, if you thought that movie was a giant piece of crap, "Guantanamo" will probably surpass it on your crapness scale.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:51 PM | Comments (0)

April 24, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Lee Elia Rants, Carly Smithson is Booted, and RIP Kenneth Keith Kallenbach.

After hearing about the passing of Kenneth Keith Kallenback during The Howard Stern Show this morning, The Dude on the Right realized he actually has a "blowing smoke through his eyes" story, and doesn't do his best to tell the tale during this podcast. He does, though, warn you as you are listening that you might want to watch your podcast volume during his visiting of the Lee Elia tirade about Chicago Cubs' fans. The Dude is also happy TV is back in full bloom, happy that Carly Smithson is finally off "American Idol," and is looking forward to seeing Neil Diamond as the A.I. mentor next week.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:01 PM | Comments (0)

April 22, 2008

It is Andrew Lloyd Webber Week. Shouldn't We Be Paying Attention to the Pennsylvania Election Results?

By: The Dude on the Right
So as a good American I suppose I should probably be hunkered down watching the Pennsylvania Primary Results to see if Hillary Clinton somehow pulls out a chance to solidly beat Barack Obama if only to further confuse who will be the Democratic nominee for President, but, dammit, it is Tuesday night, it is "American Idol" night, and there is more important voting going on in just about an hour.  Sure, it is Andrew Lloyd Webber Week for A.I., and Andrew Lloyd Webber is fantastic, legendary, a mega-force when it comes to musicals, and fine, I'll admit it, I'm a fan of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Cats."  Hell, I even saw "Cats" on Broadway back in 1985, although part of it is blurry as we took a high school bus ride from Ohio to New York City, and since I can't sleep on moving transportation and "Cats" was the first play we saw out there the evening we arrived, let's just say I was nodding off during part of it, at least I think so.  Man, some of those memories are blurry now, and unless my mind is really messed up, we also saw "Noises Off" out there, which I can still watch today and laugh my ass off if done even close to right.  But I digress.

So as much as I do appreciate the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, maybe the "American Idol" folks realize no one there has the personality/performance quality to make it as a pop singer so they're trying to see if they can make some money with them on the Broadway stage.  Maybe Andrew Lloyd Webber will actually get these shlubs to be performers, but I'm still praying for "Bruce Springsteen Week" when he can teach this group about performing, and then Artie Lange from The Howard Stern Show, now that he reneged on his resignation, will have to answer to this equation:  Bruce Springsteen + American Idol = Ball Shocking.

Enough reminiscing, enough praying, let's see how our last six folks sing...

Syesha Mercado
 - Sings - "One Rock 'n Roll Too Many"
 - My prediction is that even though she sings nice enough, and she is trying to perform it as if she were on stage, she's the first singer of the night and only her diehard fans will stick by and vote for her.  Sadly, or maybe happily, she has shown she will be able to make it on Broadway, just not the pop/Idol scene.

Jason Castro
 - Sings - "Memory"
 - This is not a song for "laid-back"-ness, which Jason Castro is all about.  The thing is that people who know the song (like me), will probably think it sucked, but fans who have no concept of the song might actually love it.  He needed to hit the "Jesus Christ Superstar" soundtrack and become Jesus, rather than singing anything from "Cats."  Horrible song choice.

Brook White
 - Sings - "You Must Love Me"
 - Does "forgetting the song" lend her to the bottom of the pack?  Does singing a Madonna song save her?  Once she got over forgetting the lyrics she did okay, but the performance aspect waivered.  Paula seemed crushed, Simon was correct about the stopping thing, and now we will see how strong her fan base really is.

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "Think of Me", I think.
 - So Andrew Lloyd Webber gave David the best bit of advice ever - to open his eyes, and yet he can't.  I guess he's a squinty dude who can sing well, but still lacks the performance skills because if the dude just approached the front of the stage, worked the girls in the front row, he would have shown everyone that he is better than just a good singer.  Simon again is correct.  David has to break out his shell and be a performer - quit standing in the center of the stage.

Carly Smithson
- Sings - "Superstar"
- This song fits in her wheelhouse, but there is still something about her that makes her "over-the-top" for the show.  She still shouts too much, she still seems to have this attitude of "I deserve to win this," and this song was probably a better choice for her, even though I still didn't like it that much.

David Cook
 - Sings "Music of the Night"
 - Yea, fine, you could be on Broadway, too.  You will probably stick around for another week, and at least you seem to try and work the crowd a bit, but you have shown that there isn't a pop-idol in this group.

Let's wrap this up...

Great, this week has shown that we've got six people who could probably be on Broadway, but not one of them has shown that they have the star power to be a pop singer.  Sorry, but I really don't care that much about these people anymore.  We don't need Mariah, we don't need Broadway, now we just need to see if these people can perform, and as I have been re-iterating from week to week, we really need a performing mentor for these folks.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 9:15 PM | Comments (0)

April 21, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Movie Talk, Artie Lange Talk, End of the World Talk, "Survivor" Talk, and more Talk.

The Dude on the Right is flying solo for this "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, mostly because of his own fault, but he still tries to blame Stu Gotz a bit even while he talks about penis and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." The Dude also talks some martial arts with the movie "The Forbidden Kingdom," how he is happy Artie Lange is back on The Howard Stern Show," that the end of the world is coming, and last week might have been the best tribal council on "Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites." The Dude also gives his tribute, sort of, to Pope Benedict coming to the United States of America.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:11 PM | Comments (0)

April 20, 2008

At First I Wondered "What Was I Thinking?" An Hourish Later My Legs Weren't Screaming "Frack!"

By: The Dude on the Right
Today was one of those weird days when I had everything planned.  My normal morning routine would easily be in place, complete with starting laundry, reading the Sunday Chicago Tribune while eating breakfast, and, at the same time, catching up some some TiVo viewing.  Okay, I realized I still can't seem to get recording the new "Battlestar Galactica" correct, muttered "What the frack!", then tried to set up a season pass I screwed up before, hoping it didn't miss this week's episode forever, or at least until the DVD season comes out.

But my Sunday also had a lot of errand-running planned, which, I know, is kind of lame, but the Sunday also had planned a one hour walk in my favorite Springbrook Prairie Forest Preserve.  I was sort of curious to see how things were looking after they torched the place a few weeks back, except with a slight wind blowing from the northwest I knew heading north would make my walk back a little easier so I wouldn't get to see the result of the torchness.  And I'm walking, and I'm walking, and I get to the thirty minute mark and realize that I'm feeling good, my legs feel spry, I've got over half a bottle of water left, and I say to myself, "Self, why don't you just do the entire loop?  Why turn back now?"  Then I said to myself, "Self, What the hell are you thinking?  Do you realize that it will add another hour to this walk and your Sunday is already scripted."  Then I said to myself, "Self, it's a gorgeous day, with a slight breeze, and it hasn't started to heat up yet."  Then I said to myself "Self, shut the hell up.  We're going for the six miles."  Yes, I'm nuts.

And so I did my first six-mile walk of the year and it felt great.  I mean, my legs didn't get fatigued, I planned my water drinking properly, and it was actually more refreshing walking into the slight breeze on the backside of the loop than letting the breeze bring me home.  I also got to see that the crispy prairie was starting to turn green, the recent warm weather has instantly put trees into budding mode, and sure, there might be one more cold snap, or a crappy day or five here, but it looks like we have really, finally, turned the corner into the Spring and Summer season.

And also and, the walk was not perfect because there was one miscalculation, especially since my original plan didn't include a six mile, one hour and fifty minute walk, and that was I was wearing jeans.  I woke up this morning, didn't get myself a gun, didn't figure for the six mile walk, and haven't put myself back into "shorts mode" yet, so I pulled on my Levi's, put on a t-shirt, embraced the subtle, slight chill in the air, not thinking that less than two hours later I would be a little sweatier than I planned, had people on the trail looking at me like "What the hell is that dude wearing jeans for?", but you know what, at the end of it all, I got to see some deer frolicking in the prairie, and sure, you can't see the mallard in the upper picture of the pond but I did (I so have to bring my better camera gear), and the burnt prairie is starting to sprout grass.

So what if my running errands were bumped by about an hour.  So what if I was the dork wearing jeans on a six mile walk.  And so what if my iPhone photos aren't up to my normal standard.  It was a beautiful day, it was great to enjoy it, and it's almost time to get my white, pasty legs in some shorts.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:30 PM | Comments (0)

April 19, 2008

What's New? A Movie Review of "The Forbidden Kingdom"

The Dude on the Right couldn't come up with a star-rating after he saw "The Forbidden Kingdom," so he let his movie review lead him to his final ranking. The thing is that he liked the comedy in the movie, especially with the interaction between Jet Li and Jackie Chan, but then the movie tried to be a more serious kung-fu flick. He also couldn't figure out if they were making it for kids to go and see (damn that Monkey King), or for martial art's fans. The Dude is so confused.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:01 PM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2008

What's New? A Movie Review of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall"

The Dude on the Right couldn't pull the trigger and give "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" 5 stars during his movie review because it almost seemed the film folks were trying to appease the females with some full-frontal, male, wiener, and the fact that the photo of Mila Kunis' was probably a body-double of her boobies. He did find the movie funny as hell, in that Judd Apatow kind of way, so if you are a fan of any of the trio of "The 40 Year Old Virgin," "Knocked Up," or "Superbad," you will probably laugh your ass off during "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." The Dude liked it so much he almost might see it again.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:18 PM | Comments (0)

April 17, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Kristy, Priscilla, and a Cougar are Gone. But Not Google.

The Dude on the Right is in a lamenting mood for this podcast. First he's sad that Kristy Lee Cook got booted from "American Idol," then he really doesn't care that Priscilla Presley got booted but is still sad that Adam Corolla was knocked out of "Dancing With the Stars" competition, he is a little torn that a cougar got shot to death in Chicago, but what makes him most sad is that Google profits makes him remember that he could be worth about $50 million bucks.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:49 PM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2008

The Gloves are, Umm, Sort of Off?

The Gloves are, Umm, Sort of Off?

By: The Dude on the Right
So as I'm updating some stories over on the "Mostly Entertainment" site while I'm waiting to see who is getting booted from "American Idol," I've got the Democratic debate between "Crazy Eyes" Clinton and "Don't Call Me Osama" Obama on, and as far as I can tell it's still the same old crap: A question is given, the candidate responds and then somehow shifts their answer to because I will help "Bring back the troops," "Save the economy," or "Fix health care," no matter what the question was. Just once I would like some fire and brimstone, and one of them, or at least in this case Barack, to just slam back "Who taught you how to down a shot.", or Hillary to blast "Nice bowling form."

At this phase I almost just really want "down and dirty."  John McCain is just kind of floating around, like "La, la, la, you know what, if I am President I'm going to get rid of the gas tax!  Won't that be swell!"  Why, because right now he has no competition, he doesn't know who he is running against, and he just needs to try to stay in the news.  Hillarity and Barackability keep going back and forth, subtlety trying to say "I'm better than they are, nyah, nyah, nyah!", but deep in their heart don't you really want to know what they really might want to say, something like:

"You're Pastor is an idiot."
"Oh yea, let me go and videotape your Pastor for a bunch of sermons."
"Well, your wife is finally happy to be an American."
"Yea, well your hubby got his pickle whistled right under your nose."
"Fine, I hate 'Crown Royal.'  That's why I didn't down it."
"Me neither, you know why?  It's from Canada!"
"Ha, ha, ha, ha!"
"Look, let's just go to the corner bar and get a shot.  You in?"
"You got it buddy.  What do you suggest?"
"The old Number 7, a shot of Jack Daniels."
"Ummmmmm, Jack Daniels."
"You do know why the bottle is square?"
"No, why?"
"So that when you get pulled over by the cops it doesn't roll out from under your car seat."
"Wow, that's cool.  How did you learn that?"
"In colle.. I mean, on the internet.  Yea, on the internet.  Man they've got a lot of good information there.  So truthful."
"Look, I'm sorry about that 'elitist' remark."
"Yea, I'm just sorry I wasn't a better bowler."
Both together: "Over the lips and through the gums, look out America here we come!"

Look, that is a joke, but everyone, in a Presidential race, especially as I have been paying somewhat attention to these races over the years, just tries to tell us what they think we want to hear.  For a change I really wish someone would quit with the posturing and just be a real person.  The sad thing is that person has no chance to win.

And if Hillary plugs her website once more during this debate, I'm going to puke.

I've got to go now and see who gets booted from "American Idol."

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:37 PM | Comments (0)

April 15, 2008

It's "Mariah Carey is in The House!" in Your Best Randy Jackson Impression Week

By: The Dude on the Right
I used to be a fan of Mariah Carey back in her singing days, when she was soulful and just different enough from Whitney Houston to make me like them both.  Now she seems to be a lot more about club and dance music, but I guess that's where the money is at.  She's the mentor of this sad-sack of singers, and, fine, most of them aren't sad sacks, but most of them really need to learn how to perform because they can already sing.  I wonder if Kristy Lee Cook will turn a Mariah song into a country song... I guess we'll find out as the show goes along.

Let's go...

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "When You Believe" by Mariah/Whitney?
 - Mariah thinks his singing is just beautiful, and David keeps things slow, which has become his forte.  Nice leather pants, he knows his element and is working it (though I would like to see him branch out and try to rock).  Right now the biggest problem I have with him is he can't open up his eyes enough to look like he is confident.  He's a squinty guy.  Hopefully being first won't hurt him so people don't forget about him by the end of the night.

Carly Smithson
- Sings - "Without You" by Badfinger/Harry Nilsson
- She covered up the tattoo, which is nice, and she picked a song that isn't really a Mariah song which lets her sort of get out the shadow of Mariah for us older folks.  She did good, looks better tonight as a singer, but this is a song that needs a performance, which she didn't give.  Her hope is that Mom's are remember this song from its original heyday, and vote for her.

Syesha Mercado
 - Sings - "Vanishing" by, well, Mariah Carey
 - Sings nice enough, but this song doesn't lead one to be a performer.  I think I'm stuck on the performer part because so far, for the many weeks, no one is looking to be one.  She's "whoa, a whoa, a whoa-ing" all over the place, but even though she sang nice enough, where is the being a star?

Brook White
 - Sings - "Hero" by, umm, Mariah Carey
 - Boo hoo, so your sister didn't plan her wedding properly to not interfere with your being on "American Idol" plans.  She kept it in a key she could sing, did the smart thing and stuck herself at the piano, which I liked but don't know if the public will like it.  She sang nice enough, but there are only a few piano players who can connect with an audience, and she's not there yet.  And she still won't shut the hell up when the judges give their opinions, and now there is some kind of reference to a juicy burger in a bun.  Hmm?

Kristy Lee Cook
 - Sings - "Forever" by, let me guess, Mariah Carey
 - What the hell kind of hug was that, the one she gave to Mariah?  The key seems to be to sing songs no one knows on Mariah Carey night, which makes us not give a damn.  You know what, we want to compare these people to Mariah Carey, and we want them to sing Mariah songs we know even if they are from over ten years ago.  She still looks good, the performance was bland, but I don't mind her sticking around because, well, she is purty and probably has a nice career ahead of her on the country side if she doesn't screw it up.

David Cook
 - Sings "Always Be My Baby" by damn, Mariah Carey, again.
 - Yup, the dudes do have it easier this night because there is no way we want to compare them to Mariah.  His problem is the key seems wrong, just a tad too low, so he can't punch it up to the level this song could be.  He tried to do it at the end, but it's either too flat or too sharp (I always had problems figuring that out).  Sorry David, Daughtry would have done this right.  I guess it sounded better in the studio because Simon, Paula, and Randy loved it.  I found him droning. 

Jason Castro
 - Sings - "I Don't Wanna Cry" by, who would have guessed, Mariah Carey.
 - Good enough, especially for the last song so everyone will remember him, but as nice as it sounded I found him boring as hell.  It must sound better in the studio than on TV because even Simon like him.

Let's wrap this up...

I'm past the singing part because all of us know these folks can sing otherwise how in the hell did they get here, and thankfully Kristy Lee Cook seems to have gotten over her "not being able to sing" stage and is starting to dress hotter, but the bad part about this year is none of them are transforming themselves into performers.  The other crappy part is that they don't need a singing mentor, like Mariah Carey, pimping her new album, nope, these boys and girls actually need someone who can teach them to the next level, of how to touch the audience, and as much as I've been pimping Bruce Springsteen showing up on "American Idol," I'm thinking Neil Diamond, who has a new album coming out that he can promote, might not be that bad a choice, either.  Skip the "Here's how to sing" crap, let's get to "Here's how to perform."

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:33 PM | Comments (1)

April 14, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Golf, Movies, Religion and More!

Stu Gotz had some questions about religion for this podcast episode of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-up!", part of it related to priests, and part of it developed because of the news of Pope Benedict coming to the United States. Maybe Stu should forget about religion and just worry about the best way to raise the little Gotz's. The Dude on the Right gives his two cents about religion, wonders about the dislike of "Scooby Doo," but for The Dude, well, his weekend was filled with watching golf and a buttload of movies. Such is another weekend for Stu & The Dude.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:47 PM | Comments (0)

April 13, 2008

What's New? A DVD Review of "Enchanted."

So it's been a little while since "Enchanted" hit the movie theaters, but he put the DVD in his Netflix queue and decided to review it. As a whole he really liked the movie, thought Amy Adams was perfect in the role of Giselle, and thinks it might also melt the hearts of dudes who only like movies where things blow up. Even if you don't have kids you will probably still like it, and although most of the extras on the DVD he found boring, the "making of" stuff fascinated The Dude.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:40 PM | Comments (0)

April 12, 2008

But on What Occasion Would I Wear a "MILF Island" T-Shirt?

By: The Dude on the Right
So I'm watching the TV show "30 Rock," as I am wont to do because I enjoy it, and the episode dealt partly with the "finale" of "MILF Island," with "20 super-hot moms, 50 kids, and no rules," and the first part of me, as a fan of "Survivor," knew that if there was actually a TV show called "MILF Island," I'm sure I would be watching.  The second part of me knows, now that NBC has screwed it up and probably copyrighted the concept somehow, FOX won't be able to actually make it a series, nor will CBS, who did their own exploitation of children with "Kid Nation" and all they would have to do would be add some super-hot moms.

In any case the episode of "30 Rock" made me laugh, but then quickly reminded me that I am old.  Why?  They advertised that you could actually buy a "MILF Island" t-shirt, I found that very funny, and I even thought of jumping online to order one.  Then I quickly caught myself saying "Self, you're not in college anymore, even though you may think you are.  Where in the hell do you think you could actually pull off wearing a 'MILF Island' t-shirt?"  And in listening to myself I realized there isn't any place in the entire Universe where I could pull off wearing that t-shirt, although it would be sort of funny to try, especially if I could be a fly on the wall, listening to the comments wearing it had brought about.

I might still buy it anyway since I need a new t-shirt to wear while I'm exercising at home, and I know that every time I would look in the mirror while wearing it, well, it will make me laugh, but could I wear it in public?  Maybe I should just buy one for Stu Gotz. I'm sure he would wear it, out in public, and be able to make the ladies laugh.  He has that way.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:20 PM | Comments (0)

What's New? A Movie Review of "Prom Night."

Here's what The Dude on the Right recommends in his review if you want to see "Prom Night" - See "The Ruins" instead, and he hasn't even seen "The Ruins" yet.  He has many complaints about "Prom Night," and even though it's rated PG-13 he thought they could have put in some kind of "killer kills scantily clad girl before she sleeps with her boyfriend" scene, complains that they could have been at least a little original with the boyfriend dying, and wonders if fake blood costs that much money because either they were going for realism with the stab wounds (in which case, why?), or they were afraid of going over budget so they skimped on the blood.  Can you guess that The Dude didn't like "Prom Night" that much?

Posted by Rightdude at 2:23 PM | Comments (0)

April 11, 2008

What's New? A Movie Review of "Smart People."

The Dude on the Right issues an "Artsy Film Alert!" for "Smart People," because, well, it's an artsy kind of film, and he knows that his review of the movie won't be glowing enough to try and drag the "Anti-Artsy Film" crowd into the theater. He did find it funny and thinks it will make a nice DVD rental, but just thought the Dennis Quaid character was a too-over-the-top portrayal of a literature professor in college and didn't think he needed to be hitting up on the Sarah Jessica Parker character.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:12 PM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Artie Lange, Tiger Woods, and Paula Abdul. How About That Mix?

Lucky for The Dude on the Right he was listening to the West Coast Feed of The Howard Stern Show, so he was able to hear the entire Artie Lange meltdown, resigns, quits episode during the show, especially since it appears Howard might have put the nix on the replays of the show during the rest of the day. With no new information on the fate of Artie Lange, during his Thursday podcast, The Dude talks about it, doesn't relate his theories on what is going on well, but there will probably never be another day when "Artie Lange" and "Stern Fan Network" are #1 and #2 on Google Trends. Tiger Woods and The Masters were dropped in rankings, thanks to Artie, and from The Dude's observation, Kristy Lee Cook did not have a nip-slip during last Tuesday's "American Idol." Neither did Paula Abdul, but the podcast does have a new edition of "Paula Abdul Clips of the Week."

Posted by Rightdude at 6:58 PM | Comments (0)

April 8, 2008

It's "Inspirational Song" Week - Oh I Hope Someone Sings "Gonna Fly Now!"

By: The Dude on the Right
Because this is the week we are supposed to give money to the "American Idol" crusade of "Idol Gives Back," to make them look or maybe just feel better about themselves even though the Idol folks, Fox, and AT&T are making boatloads of money off of us just by our watching and texting in our votes, (can you sense my bitterness at their crusade), this week our contestants will be singing "Inspirational Songs."  I'm wondering if one of them will really put the concept over the top and sing "You're the Inspiration" by Chicago.  I'll guess we'll just have to wait and see and then, tomorrow, give all of our money to "Idol Gives Back" instead of paying our mortgage, because who pays their mortgage nowadays even though they have a big-screen TV to watch "American Idol."  Can you still sense my bitterness in their having a charity and asking us to give them money?

Anyway, let's go...

Michael Johns
 - Sings - "Dream On" by Aerosmith
 - Good song choice for him, but he's no Steven Tyler.  Any singing issues could get tossed aside if he was a better performer, with a better outfit.  He so needed to work the crowd better, somehow.  And Paula won't shut up.  Please let her keep it up, this could be a banner week for Paula quotes.

Syesha Mercado
 - Sings - "I Believe" by Fantasia
 - So, let's suck up based on a previous Idol contestant, that I would say a majority doesn't know her music anyway.  Again, singing well enough, she did hit the high note, but I don't think she performed or connected with the crowd the way she needed to in order to make her a star.

Jason Castro
 - Sings - "Over the Rainbow" the Israel Kamakawiwo'ole version.
 - I'll leave out the "Meet Joe Black" reference, and the fact that I know the version he is doing first because of the radio dude Steve Dahl, and the fact that you would never picture a dude like Iz singing this song, which is actually wrapped with "A Wonderful World," but Jason did a version consistent to the surfer dude he portrays, and Iz would probably be proud.  Too bad he didn't have enough time to do the full version Israel does - do yourself a favor and get Israel's version from his "Facing the Future" album on iTunes.  Make sure you get the right version with both songs.

Kristy Lee Cook
 - Sings - "Anyway" by Martina McBride
 - Sticks with the totally country side, which works for her, but unless the country fans rally behind her, this song might be her downfall because she still doesn't perform.  She sings well, she looks well, but I don't give a crap.  I guess I had to be there because she didn't come off as a performer which is where I think all of these folks need to now work now.

David Cook
 - Sings "Innocent" by Our Lady Peace
 - Can these people pick any more obscure songs?  What the hell are you doing?  He's probably got enough of a fan base to keep him here, but this is a song that is all over the place musically, the band and singers had no clue how to pull it off, and maybe it's one of his favorites, and I will give him credit for probably being the best performer so far, but this was just too all over the place.

Carly Smithson
- Sings - "The Show Must Go On" by Queen
- First off, how do you not tell the history of this song when Freddy Mercury was dying at the time he sang it.  Sure it's inspirational, but Freddy's story about this song is more inspiring.  She's a singer, she knows what she's doing, and she's got a fan base.  This will keep her floating around for a while, she overdid it, but if you want to know about this song, and the ending days of Queen, head to the Wikipedia article.

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "Angels" by Robbie Williams
 - I'll give the dude credit for pulling out songs that people won't really remember until the chorus, and then singing them nicely, and this week he almost put an "Elton John" vibe into his performance thanks to staying at the piano.  The thing though, is if you look at his eyes, he still looks a little lost, in a "How and why and I'm here?" mode.  With this performance, though, he's back to being the one to beat.

Brook White
 - Sings - "You've Got a Friend" by Carol King
 - She sings purty, she looks purty, and you can connect with her.  It was a nice, slow song, but she still doesn't shut up when the judges critique her.  There still seems to be the lacking of performance with her.

Let's wrap this up...

The week was about inspiration, no one sang "You're the Inspiration" or a song from a Rocky movie, and for the most part, none of them, sans David Cook, seems to know how perform outside the safety of the microphone stand.  Carly had a chance but she blew it, and if David Archuleta wins, I don't care what any commenters post, he seems to be trying to set himself up as the next Josh Groban instead of, well, being better than Josh.  Rumors give David's life a complicated story, which is perfect for "Oprah."  His goal should be to get there.

Real singers show up on tomorrow's "Idol Gives Back," or at least popular singers, and then we are back to these people who sing nice enough but can't perform.  Now I've got to go back to my TiVo to see who got booted from "Dancing With the Stars."

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:37 PM | Comments (0)

April 7, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Prairie Fires, Movies, Dieting, and Poop.

Luckily The Dude on the Right wasn't engulfed in flames over the weekend, and Stu Gotz hasn't gotten the poop beaten out of him by Mama Gotz yet, so the boys are here for a "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast. With the weather being nice outside, both The Dude and Stu made the most of it by staying inside and watching movies. Also during the weekend, while The Dude was grilling a steak, it appears Mama Gotz was on a diet, at least according to Stu, (Why she's on a diet The Dude can't understand because he doesn't think she needs to lose any weight. Stu, on the other hand...) though the diet Mama Gotz is on might have failed to mention an important aspect prior to measuring your waistline.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:10 PM | Comments (0)

April 6, 2008

What's New? A Movie Review of "Nim's Island."

The Dude on the Right is still coming to terms that he skipped a movie with violence, sex, and nudity, for a movie about a girl and her Dad living on an uncharted tropical island with a writer who only eats soup. But there he is, writing a review of "Nim's Island," and liking it. He must be sick.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:46 PM | Comments (0)

April 5, 2008

Spring has Come! Spring has come! Hallelujah! Spring has come!

By: The Dude on the Right
Let me repeat the title of the blog!  Spring has come!  Spring has come!  Hallelujah!  Spring has come!

Finally, after months and months of snow, cold, more snow, and a sneaky 60 degree day in January sparking warnings of "Here comes Global Warming!", it almost looks like Spring has sprung here in Chicagoland.  Sure, this is a time when, depending on the direction of the wind, Chicago proper can still find itself almost in winter temperatures, but out here in the suburbs, and with a southwest wind, all of us were enjoying temperatures in the 60's, just like a day in January, with a lot of sun.  It's the kind of day that reminds me of college, when a day like this, especially if it were a weekday, would cause many of us to venture through the roof hatch of the fraternity house and blow off classes, enjoying a welcome day of sun, an evening of coolness, and beverages provided by the father of one of the brothers.  And although this day reminded me of camaraderie on a roof, I took to enjoying it in other ways, namely being stuck indoors for a couple of hours watching a just okay movie called "Leatherheads," but making a point to enjoy the day with a walk in my favorite forest preserve, Springbrook Prairie, mostly because it's my closest forest preserve with a great walking trail, and  later sparking up the Weber for a nice steak.  The sparking up the Weber of the story will probably wait for my weekend wrap-up with Stu on Monday because of a Home Depot experience, but my walk made me wonder:

Why are they setting the Springbrook Prairie on fire, and why didn't I bring my real camera gear?

As I am wont to do sometimes, especially when the weather warms up, I like to pop in the headphones, fire up my iPod (which, I'm sorry, doesn't seem to have "random" but seems to have its own musical preference for the day because I only own one Smashing Pumpkins CD, "Siamese Dream," and with 13 songs it is about .205% of the music on my iPod, but Mr iPod decided it was in a "Smashing Pumpkins" mood, playing 3 songs from the CD in one hour, and not even "Disarm" which is actually why I bought the CD in the first place, and I'm sorry, I digress, back to fire).  So I start-up my iPod, start my walk, and see smoke in the air.  Yup, it is time for the prairie folks to do controlled burns, and as I am continuing my walk I wonder why.  I mean, come on, this prairie preserve is pretty big, yet for some reason the forest preserve powers that be seem to burn part of it every year?  My desire for finding out why will have to come later, when I get home, but as I'm walking, in the distance is a pack, a group, oh hell, a bunch of deer.  They seem confused, they are grouped outside of the fire zone, seeming to look at each other saying "What the hell is going on?"  And then the moment of wishing I had my camera gear came because even though I tried to snap a picture of the deer with my camera phone it came out like crap, so it isn't here.  The deer were jumping, scrambling, and looking for a place to get away from the smoke and fire, and with my real camera, well, I might have had a nice shot.  Instead I've got these few photos of the work the forest preserve is doing to make a meandering creek, how the prairie is still in "We're just getting over the winter" mode, and lots of smoke over the prairie, complete with the edge of my finger.

Missing a great picture of the frolicking deer aside, it was great to finally get back to the forest preserve this year because as much as movies are sometimes an escape from reality, there are portions of the trail when you can look and not see civilization, except, of course, today, when they were setting it on fire.

I did do some looking as to why they do these controlled burns, and as much as a Minneapolis site seems to have the best explanation, the site for the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, which owns the Springbrook Prairie, does state “The District uses prescription burns, in part, to remove invasive, nonnative vegetation. This improves conditions for native species, which possess a natural advantage, having evolved to coexist with fire.”  Now I just wonder how I can evolve to coexist with fire.  Wouldn't that be cool?

Sometimes I wish God had made a place as perfect as Chicago on a high 60/low 70 degree day.  Oh wait, I think he did, it's called San Diego (Big Cooter, it might be time to plan, for us, you're 5th year wedding anniversary party), but you know what, at least our prairie fires are controlled, usually.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:06 PM | Comments (0)

What's New? A Movie Review of "Leatherheads."

The Dude on the Right might be introducing a new rating or review method called the "Dudette Scale." Developed with complex time algorithms and if a movie ends happy, "Leatherheads" received the same rating with the dudette method, which ends up being easy, straightforward, and short, versus The Dude's method, developing a review on the structure of the movie, if the foreshadowing was too obvious, and the inclusion of gratuitous sex and violence. The Dude might just be thinking too much.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:05 PM | Comments (0)

April 4, 2008

What's New? A DVD Review of "Steep."

The Dude on the Right doesn't ski, but after watching the DVD documentary called "Steep," he does have an appreciation for the extreme skiers spotlighted during the movie. He also liked the scenery shot during the film, he also was fascinated by the use of cable cams to do some of the filming, and even though the documentary fascinated him, there is still no way he is slapping on thin strips of wood to the bottom of his feet.

Posted by Rightdude at 3:16 PM | Comments (0)

April 3, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: An NKOTB Warning, Adam's Still Dancing, and Paula Abdul Clips of the Week!

Even though The Dude on the Right is kind of lonely, he does find the time to put together another podcast complete with a quick warning about the return of NKOTB. Boy bands unite! Warning aside, most of his podcast is about TV with the return of "Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites," no London Bachelor, the booting of Steve Guttenberg while Julianne Hough is wearing too many clothes on "Dancing With the Stars," but, most importantly, The Dude got off his ass, or at least paid attention to his TiVo, and brings back "Paula Abdul Clips of the Week!"

Posted by Rightdude at 6:25 PM | Comments (0)

April 1, 2008

As Much As I Love Dolly, These Singers Need Bruce.

By: The Dude on the Right
Tonight's mentor was Dolly Parton, and I know if I were there as a contestant I would be screwed because rather than listening to anything she said I would be just mesmerized with her, umm, voice.  Yea, her voice.  The only thing I would be focusing on would be her big, giant, voice.

In any case, these contestants overcame Dolly's voices, I mean voice, and here's how I thought they did. (And, yes, the opening "April Fool's Joke" during the she show was really lame.  If they really wanted to do it right they would have teamed up with ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" and have millions of people wondering what was wrong with their TV sets.)

Let's go...

Brooke White
 - Sings - "Jolene"
 - A great song for her, and as much as I like her doing the acoustic guitar thing I think she would be more potent if she wasn't sitting on the stool and able to "work" this song more.  She's already got the fan-base so I don't think it will hurt her, but for "American Idol" this needed to be a "performance" song.

David Cook
 - Sings "Little Sparrow"
 - So David, this week, decides to actually do his own arrangement, and Dolly had nice things to say about it.  The country fans might not like it, I did, and although the singing was off a bit at time, who the hell cares?  His confidence is growing and it shows, and for him, I hate to say it, but like a dude named Daughtry, it might be better if he loses.

Ramiele Malubay
 - Sings - "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind"
 - She sings nice enough, but what a wrong genre for her to be in after last week's issues.  She's not country, and she's not rock and roll; I think she needs a "Rihanna Week" to pull her out of her funk.  Sadly she will probably be gone by that night because even though I like her spunk, but she still seems scared.

Jason Castro
 - Sings - "Travelin' Through"
 - Simple enough song, but I don't think he has the fan base to keep him going much longer.  For me I can't envision him on a big stage, but rather doing a lot of acoustic shows in the smaller clubs, with fans that love him.  He hasn't shown himself to be able to command a 20,000 seater, on a big old stage.

Carly Smithson
- Sings - "Here You Come Again"
- This might sound wrong, sexist, or whatever, but she doesn't have the look to pull off this song.  Sure, her voice is good enough, but this song doesn't seem to to in her genre of music.  Randy and Paula (especially Paula) really liked her, but Simon had his issues.  I agree with Simon.

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "Smokey Mountain Memories"
 - Dolly really loves him, she almost even cried.  Damn, I really like this young dude, and even though his voice cracked a bit, on the slow songs he seems to be fantastic.  I still, wish, that he would do something up-tempo to see if can turn into a true performer instead of just wowing the dudettes.

Kristy Lee Cook
 - Sings - "Coat of Many Colors"
 - Please tell me she is going to get off her butt and sing this song to the audience because she is singing great enough in the country genre.  Okay, she got up, and is still singing nice enough, but she needs to learn a lot about performing, and if she wanted to get any mentoring from Dolly it would be how to be a performer and not a singer - if I were her, for this song, I would ask Dolly how I could touch her, umm audiences.  Sadly Kristy was boring as usual.

Syesha Mercado
 - Sings - "I Will Always Love You"
 - She sings purty enough, and I like her sitting on the piano.  She comes across better looks-wise this week, but I really wish she could have pulled off getting her butt off the piano for the ending of the song to really blast it out for the crowd.  She almost had a chance to blow this song out of the house, but instead just sang it.

Michael Johns
 - Sings - "It's All Wrong, But It's All Right"
 - As much as I didn't like a lot of his carrying on with this song, as a "performer" and not a singer he was probably the best of the night, and since Paula talked to long, and my TiVo flipped to "Dancing With the Stars" and "The Biggest Loser," I'm not sure what Simon said.  Doesn't matter, he did great and should stick around until next week when I can re-adjust my TiVo Season Passes so Idol doesn't get clipped.

Let's wrap this up...

The thing that sort of makes me sad is that pretty much everyone on the show right now is great, or at least good singers, but only a few of them seem to have the personalities to be performers.  Every one of them you can picture singing in a smaller club, with a group of fans, but none of them have shown the step to the next level.  I suppose Dolly Parton week wasn't the time to see that (although a lot of them should have gotten tips from her about being a performer rather than a singer), but if the "American Idol" folks want to truly groom any of these kids, bring on a Bruce Springsteen as a two-week mentor to help them become a small-club person, which most of them already are, to a stadium rocker, which he is.  Pimp The Beatles if you must, but teach them Springsteen or The Rolling Stones.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:22 PM | Comments (0)